Eggplant Parmigiana

This recipe comes form The Canberra Times Sunday Magazine and LeggyPeggy says it is 'divine'. It's very easy and yummy. I didn't have any fresh herbs when I made the sauce, so used dried ones. I just shook them into the sauce until I thought that it smelled nice and looked like a nice consistency. Not very scientific, I know. Although it is very yummy as is, next time I make it I intend to grill, rather than fry, the eggplant just so's I don't ingest quite so much olive oil. The introduction to the recipe mentions eggplant's propensity to absorb all available oil and although I squeezed the slices between paper towel to remove some of the oil, there still seemed to be a fair bit. And I used parmesan cheese rather than the grana padano. I think grilling the eggplant will give it a slightly different, but still very yummy, flavour. And I didn't peel the eggplant. I like my food to be visually pleasing as well as yummy and I think the glossy, dark skin is very nice to look at. Happy eating!

• Ready In: 1 hr 55 mins
• Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 2 -3  large eggplants, peeled and cut into long, thick slices
•  salt
•  seasoned flour
•  olive oil
• 8 -10  fresh mozzarella balls, sliced into rounds
• 1⁄2 cup  freshly grated  grana padano or 1⁄2 cup parmesan cheese

• For the sauce

• 1 (400 g) can Italian-style diced tomatoes
• 2  tablespoons olive oil
• 1  onion, finely chopped
• 2  garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2  tablespoons fresh thyme
• 1  tablespoon parsley, chopped
•  black pepper
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1  pinch sugar

Directions

1. Sprinkle the eggplant slices lightly with the salt and let the juices disgorge for about half-an-hour. Pat the slices dry. Dust lightly with seasoned plain flour and then brown in olive oil in a non-stick frypan. You will need to do this in batches.
2. For the tomato sauce:
3. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add a finely chopped onion and saute until the onion is transparent. Add 2 finely chopped cloves garlic and saute for a minute. Add 1 400g can Italian diced tomatoes, 2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped and 1 tbsp parsley, chopped. Grind in black pepper, add half a teaspoon of salt and a pinch of sugar. Simmer for 10 minutes, covered.
4. To assemble:
5. Preheat oven to 180°C Lightly grease a baking dish with olive oil. Place a layer of eggplant over the bottom. Top with some tomato sauce and then dot with mozzarella slices. Continue layering until all the eggplant is used up. The last layer should be tomato sauce and mozzarella. Sprinkle with the grated grana padano or parmesan. Drizzle the top lightly with olive oil and bake for about 25 minutes.